Hello everyone, its almost time for everyone to go home and chill for a month. I'm so excited to be done with this semester! Here's an update on what we've been doing:
We have been going to mobile adoptions this month, one on the 4th at preferred pet supply, and one on the 11th at Walmart on South Campbell. We have also all volunteered this month and helped look after the enormous amount of animals they have at CARE right now. CARE is anticipating the holiday rush to adopt animals, so we are almost over our capacity to house all these animals. We are also still selling calendars, let us know if you want one! We’re starting our drive this month for CARE’s thrift shop, CARE’s closet, so if you guys are getting a lot of new stuff for Christmas and want to donate your unwanted items, bring them back to campus with you!
The best experiences I have had with this agency are definitely when I actually get to see an animal be adopted. It’s always nice to see a dog or cat that has been there for a while walk out the door with a family that will love it and to know it won’t end up in a shelter ever again. The toughest experiences are definitely just the everyday chores around CARE. It’s not easy work to take care of 40+ animals. Sometimes when we’re walking the dogs, one makes a break for it and you have to chase it down the street… which is pretty funny to look back at… but not at the time when you think this dog is about to run out into traffic and such. Another hard thing we have to deal with is the people that come in. Sometimes these people don’t exactly understand that these animals are RESCUED from animal control, and not bred in some home. That’s why we don’t know why some of them have the injuries they do, or behave the way they do. It’s exhausting to explain that to people who are used to getting their pets from breeders.
I think next semester, we will really try to focus more on the PR and fundraising aspect of CARE, instead of going to so many events. Hopefully CARE won’t need us so much for these events and we can focus on our other projects for next semester, like our dollar dog dinner. I know that we will definitely improve next semester, because we have learned to balance our time between school and CARE. A skill that I have acquired from this experience is being able to work in a team. I was never very good at working in teams before college, and now that I have been through so much with my group, I feel like next semester will be amazing. I have learned to communicate effectively and to collaborate with people.
The Wellness Program has definitely been an experience this semester, an experience that I have both loved and hated. I loved the chance to do things like yoga, Tai chi and other activities this semester. It was something new in my week that I could look forward to, and Tai chi was very relaxing. Something that I hated about the Wellness program was having to log online every day. It was more stressful trying to make up a day that I missed than my regular life. Perhaps for future users of this program, instead of logging on every day, it could be a longer session maybe twice a week.
Over winter break, I am looking forward to sleeping, spending time not talking to anyone, and catching up on my TV shows and movies I have wanted to see.
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